Christmas Day
by ayane04
Summary: It's Christmas, Sasuke's most hated time of the year. Sakura and Sasuke being newlyweds, Christmas will either be the romanticized season of love that Sakura is hoping for, or otherwise, cold and frosty times characteristic of Sasuke. Is there hope for a man who is seemingly so unloving? Or are they fated for a broken marriage after all?


Sasusaku oneshot, AU, before Sarada. Sasuke perspective.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and happy New Year! :)

* * *

Christmas was here. The snow was falling thicker than ever. Sasuke looked out the window with slight apprehension. Today was what Sakura had been planning for since September, perhaps even earlier. Sakura clearly had an unhealthy obsession for Christmas. He slid quietly out of bed, careful not to move the covers too much and awake his pink-haired wife, who was sound asleep, her hand clutched tightly onto a chibi-version Sasuke stuff toy. It was beyond him why Sakura had chosen to cuddle this stuff toy to sleep last night when he was right beside her, though truth be told he was often out of town for work, so it could explain her also unhealthy relationship with a stuff toy version of himself. Sasuke had always hated Christmas, ever since his family had left him all alone in this world. He suddenly thought of all the Christmases before, when he locked himself in his room to avoid looking at all the happy families who were reunited at Christmas. He pushed those thoughts away; now was not the time for these weak feelings. He did not need family; he had more important things to do.

Sasuke began making breakfast. He fried an egg and some tomatoes and slapped them onto a piece of toast. He was done within ten minutes. This was much less complicated than the breakfast that Sakura often made him, which every time seemed to be a grand feast of eggs, bacon, sausages, toast, pancakes and a choice of either tomato juice or milk. She alternated between this and the traditional Japanese breakfast, which Sasuke preferred but appreciated her ability to do both nevertheless. He opened the fridge in search for some leftover tomato juice that maybe Sakura had saved from last night; indeed he was right, there just enough left for a glass to go with his simple breakfast. Sasuke liked to drink tomato juice regularly, and today was no exception.

As he was finishing his breakfast, he heard Sakura thundering down the steps. Sasuke watched in amusement as she emerged round the corner, almost knocking over the miniature Christmas trees on the side. Those trees were ones that he and Sakura had made with the kids at the orphanage they visited earlier in the week.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Sakura said in a huff.

"Well, you're awake now," Sasuke said, shrugging his shoulders. Sakura rolled her eyes before spotting the half-eaten toast in his hand. She then started laughing, while Sasuke, looking slightly embarrassed while at the same time defensive, drank his tomato juice. She clearly thought she made better breakfasts than he did.

"C'mon, let's go get some groceries for tonight's Christmas dinner," Sakura said, smiling.

* * *

And so grocery shopping they went. Sasuke avoided shopping malls since as long as he can remember. He thought little of shopping, often preferring to wear the same things his parents had worn, and use the same things his parents had left him. Sakura, on the other hand, was well experienced and knew exactly where to find everything. As she had repeatedly said, it was crucial for them to shop at this particular supermarket because it had the exact kind of cheese they needed for their grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches (Camem-something). The small market near their home did not have the right kind of red wine either. Sasuke was familiar with red wine, and although he drank a good amount usually, he was never drunk; indeed Naruto was often jealous of his high tolerance for alcohol, despite his supposedly "inferior Uchiha genes".

While Sakura was busy with the cheese and the chicken, Sasuke brooded over two different brands of Pinot Noir, wondering which one was more worth the value.

"Sasuke-kun!" Yamanaka Ino stood only a metre away, distracting him from the red wine bottles. He nodded in greeting. Naruto was with her, and so was – he noticed with somewhat annoyance – Sai, his pale face and insincere smile. He never liked the guy.

"What are you doing here, teme?" Naruto said, slinging his arm around his best friend. Sasuke grunted. "Why do you look so grumpy all the time? You're like Scrooge whenever it's Christmas! Oh, what wine are you getting? Wait, what are you cooking? Where's Sakura-chan?" Naruto fired question after question while Sasuke tried to block him out. Which brand should he choose? He had better hurry. Although he liked his friends (he would never admit this to them), he couldn't pretend that they were rather annoying most of the time. He also did not want to outright stomp on their Christmas cheer, which he was sure he would not be able to resist doing so if he continued to stay in their immediate company any longer.

"Are you and Sakura coming to our Christmas party tonight? We have loads of people coming – this dunce and Hinata, Shikamaru, Chouji, Kiba, you know the usual gang, plus we managed to get Kakashi and even Tsunade to come!" Ino said excitedly.

"I don't think we're coming tonight, sorry," Sasuke said rather bluntly. "We have something planned."

"Yeah Ino, they're having a romantic night together, those two!" Naruto chided Ino with a smirk, all the while loading bottles of vodka and other spirits onto his cart.

"You really shouldn't be buying so much Naruto, what will Hinata say?" Ino looked horrified. While they were bickering, Sasuke took the opportunity to dumb the chosen bottle into his cart and left them, searching for Sakura.

He found her at the bread section, laden with heavy-looking shopping bags. Wordlessly he took the shopping bags out of her hands, and she looked up in surprise. "Sasuke-kun! I was wondering where you went!" She tried to take some of the shopping bags back, but Sasuke simply said, "Get the bread you want and let's get out of here." Sakura must have noticed his expression was slightly annoyed because she went and did so without further ado.

They returned home, set down their shopping bags and collapsed on the sofa. Sakura turned on some Christmas music.

"I bought you your favourite tomatoes," Sakura said brightly. She rummaged through the shopping bag and finally extracted the giant tomatoes that he liked best to show him. Sasuke nodded as thanks. For a moment, a shadow seemed to have crossed Sakura's face, but it was only for a fraction of a second. Sasuke however, had noticed it, and said nothing. He knew she expected more. He knew Sakura was doing her best as his wife, and there were many things about their relationship that did not meet Sakura's expectations or hopes. She believed she was very good at hiding her disappointment, but Sasuke knew better, and yet he felt there was not much he could do. He couldn't be the man who Sakura had envisioned marrying: the romantic and thoughtful husband, the husband who always knew what she was thinking, or knew exactly what to do for her, the husband who was sociable, the husband who confided in her. _He_ couldn't even be a husband who remembered her birthday.

The sticky moment passed, and Sakura carried the shopping bags to the kitchen and began unloading all their ingredients into their rightful places.

"So today, we'll be watching a movie, then we can chill for a little bit, before starting our prep for dinner at around 5?" She asked him from inside the kitchen.

"Sure."

* * *

The movie, as it turned out, was mind-blowingly boring and cheesy. Sakura had decided to watch The Holiday, and he did not find Cameron Diaz or Kate Winslet very attractive. Nonetheless, he had promised to watch a movie of her choice with her, so that he could choose what was on the menu for tonight's dinner (grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches, French Coq au vin, and molten chocolate lava cake).

They began preparing the dinner as planned, with Sasuke neatly chopping the mushrooms and Sakura preparing the cheese and tomatoes. Sakura fumbled with the wine bottle.

"Ouch!" She grimaced. Sasuke turned his head sharply. He grabbed her hand so he could see her wound. Then he ran her wounded finger under the tap, rubbed it with some antiseptic and wrapped it in a bandage he kept in his pocket. Sakura watched all this, her face blushing slightly. She was always so clumsy, Sasuke berated in his head. He said nothing to her, however.

They continued cooking in silence.

When it was all done, they sat on their round table, in candlelight, as Sakura had prepared beforehand, their plates before them. Sakura was beaming, despite Sasuke's rather sullen demeanor the whole day. She clasped her hands together. Sakura was not religious so Sasuke had no idea why Sakura always liked to do a prayer of thanks before a meal. He certainly did not comply with it.

"Thank you for this dinner, and may we have wonderful times ahead with our friends and loved ones," Sakura said cheerfully. Sasuke suddenly thought of his parents and his brother. He was filled with a sudden longing, which Sakura somehow guessed (how does she always know?) because she reached over and held his hand.

"Merry Christmas, Sasuke-kun." She smiled, and everything was suddenly alright again, Sasuke realized. She always knew what he longed for the most, even when he himself did not know, or refused to accept. She knew what he needed, and she had always made everything alright, no matter how clumsy she was, or how silly she was over silly things like Christmas.

She was there, and she was real, and she was all he needed after all.

"Merry Christmas, Sakura."

Fin.

* * *

Please review and let me know if you liked it! Thanks very much :D


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